Designer Vera Wang knows the ins and outs of competitive figure skating outfits because, as a youngster, she wore them.

Back then, Wang had visions of Olympic glory. She did early-morning workouts at a rink and traveled to countless competitions, including the annual national championships in 1968. But she didn’t make the U.S. team. This past fall, Wang, 60, got back on the ice for the first time in years with Evan Lysacek, a medal favorite for Vancouver.

But the session wasn’t about her; it was about understanding how his body moves in competition. “You wouldn’t want someone to lose Olympic gold because their sleeve ripped off,” Wang says.

Other considerations: The outfit has to sparkle like evening-wear but function like workout gear; it has to stand up to the wind generated by skaters’ speed; and it must be showstopping from every angle.

“This is more pressure than an Oscar dress,” Wang says.

The designer, whose skating costumes have earned her a spot in the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame, shares some thoughts on memorable Olympics outfits from the past, designed by herself and others.

Nancy Kerrigan wore a neon-yellow dress by Wang with a pale-pink beaded bustline at the 1994 games in Lillehammer, Norway. It was one of the designer’s favorites because it took Kerrigan out of her usual comfort zone as a sophisticate. “Neon …. has a feel of modernity and techno,” Wang says.

That year, Kerrigan also wore a white Wang-designed outfit with black illusion sleeves, a trick the designer also uses on the red carpet to create a sexy, suggestive silhouette without baring much skin. “I thought it made her look tougher,” Wang explains.

Italian skater Carolina Kostner wore a snowflake-covered outfit in 2006 that employed the sheer-illusion look that Wang likes (but did not design). Kostner “has a more womanly, mature style, but this outfit brings out her youth and whimsy,” Wang says.

Wang speculates that American Sasha Cohen was probably intimately involved in the creation of the ombre-blue dress covered with sequins she wore in Salt Lake City in 2002. Even better than the blue one, Wang says, was the red number with a sunburst-yellow hemline. “That dress was very beautiful.”

Ukranian skater Oksana Baiul liked “a lot of everything” on her dresses, and a frilly pink outfit from 1994 was no exception, Wang says. The fringe, the fur trim, the beads were all very much part of a trend of the Eastern Europeans of that time.

[…] her designs, Wang has said creating outfits for figure skaters was much more difficult, telling The Associated Press that designing Olympic costumes was “more pressure than an Oscar dress in a strange […]

https://www.europeworldnews.com/news/vera-wang-once-an-olympics-hopeful-returns-to-the-rink-at-pyeongchang/ Vera Wang, once an Olympics hopeful, returns to the rink at PyeongChang - Europe & World News